'Jedi' the dog helps boy with type 1 diabetes by alerting parents to blood sugar changes. https://t.co/crNarh4B1I pic.twitter.com/XWdtr5r5KE
— ABC News (@ABC) March 10, 2016
The force is strong with Jedi, a 3-year-old diabetic alert dog, and his 7-year-old “master,” Luke Nuttall.
Luke has been battling type 1 diabetes — an autoimmune disease with no cure — ever since he was diagnosed at 2 years old, according to his mother, Dorrie Nuttall, from Glendale, California.
Dorrie, 37, told ABC News that the glucose in Luke’s blood can quickly spike or plummet because his pancreas cannot produce insulin.
If Luke’s blood sugar gets too low, he starts to lose feeling in his hands and feet, gets dizzy, has pains in his stomach and is at risk of seizure, Dorrie said. And if his blood sugar spikes too high, it can cause damage to his vital organs, she added.
But amazingly, Jedi can smell these spikes and dips, and the black English labrador has been trained since he was a puppy to alert Dorrie to such changes in blood sugar. He brings over a brinsel — a cloth tube — to Dorrie and “bows” when Luke’s blood sugar is too low and “waves” if it’s too high, Dorrie said. (Jedi lifts his paw up or down to signal the change).